Defective block grant scheme firm hit by cyber attack

An engineering firm that works with Ireland's Housing Agency has been targeted in a cyber attack

A cyber attack on a firm that works on a scheme to help people whose homes are crumbling in the Republic of Ireland has been described as "concerning".

The Irish government 's Housing Agency said it had been notified of the "cyber incident" involving engineering firm, Jennings O'Donovan, which assesses defective block grant scheme applications.

Personal data - including addresses, personal contact details and photos of affected homes - may have been impacted, the agency said.

Jennings O'Donovan said the incident involved "temporary unauthorised access to a limited part of our IT system" and that "personal financial information was stored securely on systems that have been unaffected".

The Housing Agency said the attack had been "isolated to one engineering company, " and that it was in the process of contacting affected applicants.

Charles Ward TD (member of the Irish parliament), from the 100% Redress Party, said he was "deeply concerned by reports of a cyber attack".

Ward said the people affected needed to be given more information.

He said they now need "full clarification on the timeline, nature of compromised data, and the steps being taken to safeguard records and affected homeowners".

"Families entrusted highly sensitive information to this process, believing it would be handled with care," the Donegal TD said.

"They are entitled to complete transparency and clear, honest answers."

Thousands of homes in the Republic of Ireland are crumbling because of defective concrete blocks

Thousands of homes in the Republic of Ireland - mostly in counties Clare, Donegal, Limerick, Mayo and Sligo - have crumbled in recent years because of defective bricks.

That is because of the presence of water-absorbing minerals that cause the bricks to crack with the result that many homes now need to be demolished.

The Housing Agency said it was "working closely with Jennings O'Donovan to ascertain as much information as possible surrounding the cyber incident".

It is also contacting people affected to advise them of the cyber incident.

"If applicants have not been contacted they are not impacted by this cyber incident," the agency said

Officials have also notified the Data Protection Commissioner in the Republic of Ireland and all other relevant local authorities.

A Jennings O'Donovan spokesperson said the firm "recently experienced a network disruption involving temporary unauthorised access to a limited part of our IT system".

They said the firm, following its protocols, "immediately responded to identify and isolate affected systems and investigate alongside external specialists" and that the measures "ensured we successfully mitigated any disruption".

"Any personal financial information was stored securely on systems that have been unaffected by the disruption. We remain in regular contact with our clients and the relevant authorities," they added.